Second Awakening
by Alyss Requiem
Summary: When they defeated Grima that was supposed to be the end of her life, but it seems that fate has other plans for Robin. She has been given a second lease at life, a second chance to fix the mistakes she had made previously. Or a chance to make everything worse.
1. A Cruel Jest

**Hello everyone, I'm back. Things have been getting hectic in my life with my Senior year of high school almost over, so I apologize for the delay. This spawned from my first thought after completing Awakening and delivering the final blow. When I saw the final cutscene this was my first thought as to what happened.**

 **Warning: Spoilers for all of Fire Emblem: Awakening**

 **Edit 02-19-16: I made a few minor changes to this chapter, nothing story altering mostly just fixing a few mistakes and changing the wording here or there.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Fire Emblem series.**

* * *

"Robin! No!" Chrom cried out, reaching for his wife in a desperate but futile attempt to stop what he knew was happening.

Robin smiled slightly. In that moment, she wanted to remember everything. The light from the slowly rising sun playing across the battlefield, the light tresses of hair that had broken from their binding floating in front of her face, the sound of her allies celebrating the defeat of Grima in the distance, and the royal blue of his hair, matted and covered in blood and grime though it may be.

She was well aware that this may be the last time she saw him. The moment she has was fleeting, and yet, there were so many things she wanted to say to Chrom, to Lucina, to Morgan, and to the others who fought with them. She was not going to apologize, she was happy with her choice. Her only regret was that she would leave Lucina and Morgan motherless again. Nor did she feel she had to tell Chrom how much she loved him. No, she knew exactly what she would say. There was one phrase that could sum up everything she wished to tell him.

"Thank you, Chrom. For...everything... Tell the others my last thoughts were of them. May we meet again, in a better life," She waved at Chrom, pretending not to see the tears streaming down his face and ignoring the ones falling down her own, and faded from existence.

* * *

It was neither dark nor light, not that she had anyway to perceive either of them. There was neither up nor down, nor left or right. There was nothing. She was in an odd state of awareness, where she was neither awake nor asleep. She was only aware of one thing: the emptiness. It was the only concept that she could seem to grasp, but it felt wrong. It was too empty, too void. There was nothing and that made her uneasy. There should be someone. There should be someone beside her. There should be many standing with her, but there were none.

She felt it then. A tug, a song calling her to consciousness. She followed it because she knew that was where they were. She didn't know who they were, but they were important to her. They were calling to her, breaking the all encompassing silence and pulling on the ties they had worked so hard to create. She let herself be pulled, desiring to see the faces of those she had loved. She felt a strange sensation (was this warmth?) course through her as she fell into a state of unconsciousness.

* * *

"Chrom, have to do something," a familiar childish voice said.

Lissa...

"What do you propose we do?" A deeper, more masculine voice answered. Robin's heart fluttered and clenched in her chest. Chrom.

"I... I dunno…" Robin opened her eyes, the bright sun blinding her, only allowing her to see two silhouettes standing above her. They slowly came into focus as her eyes adjusted to the blinding light of the sun. The pair of siblings noticed her stirring and bent over, caring concern in their eyes.

"I see you're awake now," Chrom stated, smiling slightly, a smile that threatened to dance across Robin's own lips. This was exactly like their first meeting all those years ago.

"Hey there," Lissa said with a small laugh.

"There are better places to sleep then on the ground you know. Give me your hand," Chrom offered his hand, and Robin grabbed it gladly. She nearly burst into tears of joy when she saw that the mark of Grima had disappeared from her hand, but was able to control the urge. Chrom helped her to her feet.

All Robin wanted now was for Chrom to pull her into his arms. Tell her everything was alright, that the war was truly over and they could live in peace.

"You alright?" Chrom asked

"Y-yes," Robin was taken slightly aback by the question. He hadn't asked her that question in years. After fighting side by side for so long, and , "Thank you, Chrom,"

"Ah, then you know who I am?"

What? This didn't make any sense. Did he not remember her? Was this some cruel trick of fate?

"O-of course I know who you are," She responded, praying to the gods that this was simply a cruel jest, "You're the prince of Ylisse. I-I'm sorry if I offended you with the lack of a proper title, milord," Robin nearly cringed as she said these words. Chrom never was one for titles, but something was off about this entire situation.

"Think nothing of it, I was never overly fond of titles," he replied, "Tell me, what's your name? What brings you here?"

"My name is Robin, but" she replied, before throwing on her best confused expression, which truthfully was not terribly difficult, "I'm not sure... I'm sorry but where exactly are we?"

"What?!" Lissa exclaimed in shock.

"I can't seem to recall how I got here, or anything before waking in this field," Robin avoided eye contact with the Shepherds in front of her, hoping that none of them could tell she was lying.

"I've heard of this," Lissa said just like when she had first met Robin, "it's called amnesia,"

"It's called a load of Pegasus dung," Frederick the Wary scoffed, "You expect us to believe you can remember milord's name but not how you ended up here,"

"But it's the truth," Robin insisted, hoping that she was as good an actress as her daughter.

"What if it is the truth Frederick?" Chrom countered, "We can't just leave her out here alone and confused. What kind of Shepherds would we be then?"

"Just the same, milord. I must emphasize caution. 'Twould not do to let a wolf into our flock,"

"Right then. We'll take her back to town and sort this out there," Chrom declared.

"Thank you," Robin said, internally breathing a sigh of relief as they made their way back to the main road.

As they walked towards Southtown, Robin remained mostly silent, caught up in her own thoughts. It was most certainly not some cruel jest unless it was by the gods. Everything was eerily similar to when she had first woken up in the field. She had an idea of what had happened, but she was really hoping that she was wrong.

"So," Robin began, hoping to break the silence, "What are you going to do with me? Am I to be your prisoner?"

Chrom let out a bark of laughter, "No. You will be free to go once we establish you're no enemy of Ylisse,"

"If we can establish you are no enemy," Frederick commented.

"Frederick, please," Chrom reprimanded, "I guess some formal introductions are in order. My name is Chrom—but then, you already knew that. The delicate one here is my little sister, Lissa,"

"I'm not delicate," Lissa huffed indignantly, "Please ignore my brother he can be a bit thick sometimes,"

Don't I know that, Robin thought, remembering the time when the prince had walked in on her in the bath and the chaos that ensued following it.

"But you're lucky the Shepherds found you. Brigands would've been a rude awakening!"

"Shepherds? I never would have guessed that the Prince of Ylisse would be tending sheep, especially in full armor,"

"We have many sheep and it is a dangerous job, just ask Frederick the Wary here," Chrom replied with a friendly jab at Frederick

"A title I shall wear with pride," Frederick responded, "Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution. I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise,"

"I understand, sir. I would do no less my..."

"Chrom, look! The town!" Lissa cried in a panicked voice pointed in the direction they had been traveling.

They all turned, though Robin already knew what she would see before she looked. Sure enough, Southtown was ablaze. The smoke pouring high into the otherwise clear sky.

"Damn it!" Chrom cursed getting ready to take off to the town's aid, "The town is ablaze! Those blasted brigands, no doubt... Frederick, Lissa! Quickly!"

"What about her?" Frederick gestured to Robin.

"I can hold my own in a fight. I'll come help," She replied quickly, checking that she still had her weapons.

"Okay, okay, let's go already!" Lissa said impatiently.

"Right," Chrom nodded as the four of them took off towards the burning village.

* * *

 **This is my first attempt at a multichapter fanfiction, so I'm not completely sure where this is going, though I do have a general idea. I'll try to update this regularly, just please be patient and tell me what you think. Until next time.**


	2. A Silent Vow

**Sorry. It's been a busy couple months and certain characters weren't cooperating (*cough* Lissa *cough*), but here's the second chapter. This is the last chapter of canon compliance. Next chapter is where things begin to change. Just don't expect it too soon. I'm in college now and classes start on Monday so I'll actually need to devote time to studying, but I'll try to get it up in a shorter amount of time.**

* * *

Robin hissed in pain as Lissa treated the burn on her right leg. It was a wound born of negligence. Robin hadn't been watching her back, expecting Chrom to do it like he always did. Unfortunately, this Chrom was not her husband and had only been able to get a warning out in time for her to only prevent a more serious injury. It was ironic really, she was safer than she had been in years and yet still almost got herself killed.

"This is a nasty burn," Lissa said with a sigh, "I'm not sure if I'll be able to heal it completely. You should really be more careful, Robin. You were lucky that Chrom was able to warn you in time,"

"Yeah," Robin replied distractedly, "I'll try to be more observant in the future," She wasn't really paying attention to Lissa focusing more on Chrom who was arranging the wood into a pile. The more she looked at him, the more she realized he wasn't her Chrom. He looked younger, more carefree like when she had first met him. He was missing some of the scars he had gained over the years of fighting, his shoulders didn't sag with the weight of the entire kingdom, and his eyes...his eyes didn't hold the haunted look that she had seen on many a sleepless night, when the responsibility and loss weighed especially heavy on him. She guessed it made sense, considering that, if she was right, most of what caused that look had yet to happen.

She wasn't sure how, but she was almost sure that she had ended up back when she had first woken in the field, except this time she had retained her memories. It wasn't the most desirable situation to be in, but, she supposed, it was better than being stuck in...wherever she had been for eternity.

"..bin. Robin!" Robin started at the sound of Lissa shouting her name. She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she had become oblivious to everything around her. It wasn't the first time it had happened, she had been known for ignoring the outside world when she was preparing strategies.

"Sorry, what?" Robin replied sheepishly, the blood rushing to her face, "I was lost in thought,"

"Sheesh. You really should pay more attention," Lissa admonished, "I was just saying that I've done what I can. It's a bit better, but you should try and avoid anything strenuous, like running,"

"Thanks Lissa," She said as she stood up and shifted her weight onto the foot. It still hurt, though the pain had dulled considerably. It should heal soon enough, so long as nothing happened to cause her to strain it. Unfortunately that was unlikely with her luck.

Though, she supposed if there was some good to come of this then it would be that those that she had seen fall in battle were still here. She had another chance to save them.

Then she froze.

Validar was still alive. Grima still existed. She would have to face them both again. Fate had granted her a second chance to save those she loved, but it had also forced her to face her worst fears again. It wasn't something she was particularly looking forward to, especially her confrontation with Validar. She was still haunted by the feeling of the loss of control of her own actions, and the consequences that arose because of it. She hoped that with the loss of her connection with Grima, Validar would be unable to control her.

Robin snapped out of her thoughts, and suddenly became very aware of the three pairs of eyes on her. She smiled sheepishly realizing this was going to be a long journey.

Robin could not sleep that night. There was too much that had happened that day for her to possibly find any sort of solace in the comforting arms of sleep. So, she just sat with her back up against a fallen tree, and wondered how things were fairing for those back in her time. If that time even existed anymore. She doubted that her timeline would cease to exist, after all that incident with the other version of their children proved that multiple timelines could exist at once. Maybe there was a way for her to get back there. However, she couldn't just abandon these people to Grima's destruction. No, she would help them defeat Grima and then work on a way to get home.

If there was a home left for her.

Had they all moved on? One part truly hoped they had, she didn't want them to suffer, and another desperately hoped they hadn't stopped searching because she feared that they would forget her, though she knew that would never happen.

A sudden chill swept through the air, forcing Robin back into reality. It was an unnatural chill, not one caused by frost, but one indicating that something was not quite right. She stood and looked around. Nothing seemed amiss, but she could not ignore the feeling of dread settling in her stomach. To her right she noticed Chrom begin to stand, likely awakened by the same chill.

"What's wrong, big brother?" Lissa yawned, having been woken by Chrom's movement.

"Sorry I didn't mean to wake you but..." the prince replied, "Something is amiss…"

"Define 'something'," Lissa said worriedly.

"I'm not sure...I think I'll have a look around,"

"Not alone, you won't!" Lissa responded immediately, "I'm coming, too"

Robin stood and approached the two siblings, "I'll come, too" She volunteered, "More pairs of eyes are better after all,"

Chrom nodded once, not questioning her obvious lack of sleep, and the trio set out into the woods. All seemed well at first, discounting the disturbing feeling of foreboding they felt, but then the world seemed to fall still. There was no noise from the creatures of the forest. Robin could feel that this was just the calm before the storm, and a glance at Chrom told her he felt it, too.

"Where did the birds go?" Lissa questioned, not experienced enough to sense the same thing the elder two did.

"Something is wrong here…" Chrom said warily, voicing both his and the tactician's thoughts. Then all hell broke loose.

The ground began to shake violently throwing them all off balance. Lissa screamed and the ground began to split and roil beneath them, hot, burning magma spitting out from the faults, setting the entire forest ablaze. Trees fell around them. The once quiet night was filled with the sound of chaos.

"Lissa, run," Chrom commanded. The younger girl stood stock still, fear and shock seizing her and holding her frozen in place, 'I mean it. Go!" The sound of Chrom's urgent yell and the force of his shove was enough to get her moving. Chrom and Robin followed shortly.

The dashed through the blazing trees, trying to avoid the walls of fire quickly encroaching upon them. They simply ran, avoiding falling trees and flaming rocks.

"This way," Chrom cried, turning sharply to the left.

Robin, Lissa, and Chrom raced through the forest desperate to get away from the erupting magma and blazing flames. They stopped for breath once they had escaped the worst of the disaster. Chrom and Robin both looked back towards the flames, morbidly captivated by the destruction. Lissa's attention however, was captured by something else.

"Chrom what is that?" Both Robin and Chrom turn at the sound of Lissa's voice and see particles of light all converging into a large glowing orb of light.

 _This must be when Lucina comes,_ Robin realized. She had not seen this the first time around as she and Frederick were more interested in finding the siblings. She watched with fascination as the light burst apart and all color seemed to fade from the area around it. Runes formed an intricate circle around a line of what seemed to be crystals. The line expanded, much like an eye opening, into a blue, crystalline circle. From it, fell multiple Risen. Two of them landed in front of the trio, their red eyes glowing eerily in the darkness as they spewed foul black smoke from their mouths.

"Lissa, get back," Chrom said as he drew Falchion. Robin mimicked the action, drawing her own sword and taking the familiar place at Chrom side. _Not my place_ , she reminded herself. She couldn't afford to forget that again.

One of the Risen charged at the small group, and Chrom met it in the middle, Falchion slashing across its side. Chrom looked back only to see the Risen seemingly unfazed. It swung its axe down and Chrom raised his own blade to block. Sparks flew as sword and axe met in a struggle for dominance. Chrom's face was contorted in exertion, but before Robin could help Chrom forced the Risen back, and threw himself against the off-balanced creature, forcing it to the ground. With a flourish, Chrom leapt at it and stabbed the Risen through the torso before it could stand back up. The creature gave out one last groan before dissipating into a cloud of smoke.

Robin let out a sigh of relief, but the feeling was short lived as Lissa screamed. Both her and Chrom turned to see Lissa backed against. She cursed. She had been so focused on Chrom that she had forgotten to keep an eye on Lissa. She reached down to pull out her Thunder tome only to find herself grasping at empty air. She berated herself for her foolishness, as she realized she left it back at their camp. She and Chrom both ran to Lissa hoping and praying that they would make it on time. Robin was closer and almost made it to Lissa before her injured leg gave out. She knew she shouldn't be surprised, it was a miracle it hadn't given out sooner.

The Risen raised it's axe above it's head to deliver a fatal blow. Robin watched on with horror even as Chrom tried desperately to reach his sister, but he would not make it in time. The axe swung down. The clang of metal on metal sounded as a familiar face stopped the blow. Lucina, wearing the mask Robin hadn't seen on her in years, held the axe at bay, obviously struggling under the weight. Chrom had stopped his charge out of surprise.

"Help!" Lucina called roughly.

Chrom nodded, breaking out of his surprise, "Right,"

He charged at the Risen with a yell, causing the Risen to lighten some of the load on Lucina. She pushed it back, and swung at it as Chrom did the same. Both hits made contact and Robin sighed in relief. Chrom turned towards Lucina, eyeing her warily.

"That was quite the entrance," he stated. Lucina met his gaze, a slight tightness in her jaw, "What's your name?"

Before the future child could answer, however, they were interrupted by another voice, "Milord, Milady are you alright?" Frederick asked, as Lucina slipped away from them to drive off some of the encroaching creatures, unnoticed by all, but Robin.

"Frederick!" Lissa cried in obvious relief.

"We're fine, Frederick, thanks to…" Chrom looked around to see that Lissa's savior was gone, "Wait, where did he go?"

"He snuck off when Frederick rode up," Robin said as she tried to use her sword to help her stand, only to fall when her leg gave out again, "I'm sorry, it looks like I'm only going to be a hinderance in this battle,"

After a moment's hesitance, Frederick directed his horse towards the tactician, and offered his hand. She took the proffered hand and was pulled up onto the saddle behind the knight, "You can observe the battle from here. You may not be able to fight, but you can still focus on strategy,"

Robin did not miss the implicit message. That Frederick was willing to trust her, despite his misgivings about her and her backstory, he knew that she could come up with a strategy that could lead them to victory. She nodded her thanks briefly before turning her attention to the Risen scattered across the clearing.

Flames sprouted from multiple places in the area, a hazard to watch for and use to their advantage. That and the old, abandoned forts in the area. She studied what she could see of the battlefield. She could see very few Risen around them, though she doubted that was their whole number. She could see little of the battlefield from her position, the flames, fallen logs, and old forts blocking much of her view. If only she could see more of the battlefield.

"We need to get to that abandoned fort," She decided, "Quickly, before the Ri- those things reach us," She said barely catching herself before calling them Risen. Thankfully no one noticed it, all too focused on the situation at hand to care about her minor slipup.

They ran quickly to the abandoned building, Frederick reigning in his mount so as to stay near his two charges, "Chrom, guard that entrance, make sure that none of them get in here. Frederick, see if there are other possible entries. Lissa, you stay inside and heal Chrom and Frederick if it becomes necessary," Robin directed once they arrived in the fort, as she carefully slid off the knight's horse, and braced herself against the wall, "I'm going to take a look at the battlefield from above,"

The tactician struggled up a pile of fallen rubble to get to the roof of the fort, doing her best to avoid straining her injured leg. The damage didn't look any better from above.

The fire had spread quickly consuming over half the forest in the short time since the first flames had begun. The Risen were few, though most of them were already heading towards the fort where she and her companions had holed themselves up. To the west she could see two figures on a horse heading towards the fortress, most likely Sully and Virion, the latter having latched onto the former after meeting her as she returned from a mission of her own. Robin smiled as she thought of their future relationship that so many had thought unlikely.

Robin shook her head, now was not the time for thoughts like this. She climbed back down from the roof, hissing in pain whenever her leg caught on a piece of stone. When she got back to the ground floor, she was greeted by Lissa healing a small gash that Chrom had gained. The latter looked at her as she began to speak.

"We're surrounded. There aren't very many of them, but the forest fire blocks most of the escape routes. Our best bet would be to hole up in here until they leave," Robin said, "There were also two people riding this way on a horse,"

"Hopefully they're friendlier than these monsters," Chrom said as he picked up his sword to beat back the Risen that had again begun to approach the fortress. One swung its axe down at the prince who blocked it with his own blade. He forced it back, but it wasn't enough to give him the opening he needed to end it, and the Risen quickly swung its axe again at Chrom. He dodged it barely, but unknowingly threw himself right back into danger. Another axe-wielding Risen stood behind him, preparing to deal a mortal wound when an arrow sprouted from its chest and the monster disintegrated into black smoke.

Robin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Captain Chrom!" A voice called from outside the fort.

"Thank the gods you made it in time, Sully," Chrom said in relief, as the two riders came into view, "Who are you?"

"I am myth and legend! I am he who strides large across hist-"

"Nevermind," Chrom brushed off the noble, "Sully, this is Robin. She is a tactician, and a good one,"

"It's good to meet you," Robin said quickly with a grimace as pain flared in her leg again, "Especially now. I need to go provide Frederick with some relief. He's down that hallway at the other entrance. Vi-Archer, go to the roof and see how many you can take out up there," Robin ordered, barely stopping herself from calling Virion by his name.

Sully hesitated for a moment a looked to Chrom, who nodded before heading down the hall towards Frederick. She could also vaguely hearing Virion grumbling about "not being appreciated."

With the added help of Virion and Sully along with Lucina's work, they were quickly able to dispatch the rest of the Risen with little problem.

"What was that?" Lissa asked, after they found that it was safe to leave the fort.

"I don't know," Chrom admitted to his little sister, "But we need to get to Ylisstol. I worry for the state of the city and Emmeryn needs to know about this before we can make our next move"

* * *

 **Please leave a review on your way out, and thank you to those who reviewed the first chapter and have favorited or followed this story.**

 **-AlyRe**


	3. Changing Fate

**I did a bit better getting this chapter up in a more reasonable amount of time. There is a time skip in this one and some canon divergence. Unfortunately this is not the most exciting chapter, most of it's set up but I'll try to get the next chapter up relatively quickly. So anyways, please enjoy.**

* * *

"It will take time to investigate how the assassination plot got so far," Philia said, "We have no leads at present,"

"It was Plegia! I'm certain of it," Chrom declared, "They'd do anything for the Emblem. Emm, you can't stay here. Come to Ferox where it's safe,"

"And leave the people undefended?" Emmeryn countered calmly, "War is at our borders, Chrom. Do you expect Ylisse to stand against Plegia without a leader? They must know their exalt stands with them,"

Robin watched the exchange carefully. This was where everything went so wrong. If Emmeryn left for the eastern palace Ylisstol would be left without many of its forces. Emmeryn would be captured and lose her memory again. Chrom and everyone else would believe her dead, and that haunted look would enter Chrom's eyes again, and she wasn't about to let that happen. Even the first time around she had thought it was a better idea for Emmeryn to remain in Ylisstol where the defences and guard was better, but she was unsure of herself at the time and so said nothing. She had no such issues this time.

"Your Grace, perhaps you might relocate to the eastern palace for the time being?" Frederick suggested, "The other kingdoms would know nothing of it. You would be safer,"

"No," Robin said, speaking up for the first time, "It would be best for you to stay here Your Grace," The others, aside from Emmeryn, looked at her as though she'd gone mad. She found herself hard pressed to disagree.

"Robin, what are you saying?" Chrom protested, "How could it possibly be safe here after what just happened?"

"Chrom," Emmeryn scolded gently, "Let her speak,"

Robin nodded her thanks to the exalt and proceeded to explain, "Despite tonight's occurrence, Ylisstol is more secure. If we were to go to the eastern palace, we would be leaving with a part of the standing guard, and with war at our borders we can't afford to move any of our troops from her," She could see Chrom about to protest again, but held up a hand to stop him, "Also, the intruders came through the siege tunnels. Outside the royal family, only two people have access to the keys to the gates. The royal family's personal guard," she nodded to Frederick, "and the first advisor to the exalt,"

The attention of those present turned to the hierarch who had been trying to sneak out of the room without drawing attention to himself. He halted a poorly disguised look of panic on his face.

"The hierarch?" Chrom asked incredulously, shaking his head, "There must be some mistake Robin. The hierarch has been a friend of the royal family for years. He was the one who helped Emmeryn in the early years of reign after our father's death,"

"Yes, but what other explanation is there?"

"They could have forced their way through the gates into the tunnels," Chrom suggested. Robin saw the hierarch relax slightly, while she smirked slightly. She had expected this, and had pickpocketed the key from the hierarch so he couldn't lock the gates again.

"With your consent, your excellency, I would recommend that we go and inspect the gates to the siege tunnels," Robin said in an even tone directed at Emmeryn.

The exalt sighed with a slightly sad look on her face, "Very well," she agreed, though with some resignation. She turned to her advisor, "Will you agree with this hierarch?"

The hierarch nodded hesitantly. His face was pale and it looked as though he was going to be sick, obviously terrified that he would be found out. It was likely the only reason he had agreed to it was because it would be suspicious should he protest.

The four of them ventured down into the tunnels beneath the castle, following the dank, rarely-used passageways until they reached a heavy iron door hanging loosely open, letting pale moonlight spill into the tunnel. Robin saw Chrom and Emmeryn's shoulders fall slightly at this sight and felt a small pang of guilt at her own joy. She shook it off quickly. _This is for the best_ , she reminded herself as Frederick arrested the hierarch, and they returned the way they came. The iron door was now shut tight behind them.

"How did you know it was him?" the prince asked her.

"As I said, he was one of the few with the keys to the siege tunnels," She said simply, "And I couldn't imagine Frederick would ever betray you like that,"

"Yes, you've said as much already, but what made you so sure that there was an insider," Chrom continued, "They could have simply destroyed or damaged the doors to enter the tunnels,"

"Yes, but it would have been loud and at least one person would have heard it," She had thought all this through. After all she couldn't very well just tell Chrom, _I'm from the future and I know what was supposed to happen tonight._ She imagined that wouldn't go over very well.

Chrom seemed to accept her explanation and didn't ask further on the subject. They walked in silence for a short while before he asked, "What's the plan now, Robin?"

"War is all but inevitable by now," The tactician began once they had returned to the counsel room. A map of the city and the surrounding countryside lay on the table in front of her, "Chances are Plegia already has forces marching against us, so we will need to fortify our defences at the western, northern, and southern gates since those are the ones they are most likely to use. We should also station a few more soldiers at the eastern gate to prevent them from flanking us," She scanned the room, and saw no sign of argument as she continued, "I also noticed while walking along the walls the other day that there are weak sections here, and here," She pointed to two spots on the southeastern wall, "I suggest we repair that as soon as possible, and we'll need to increase your guard detail milady,"

"I'll get the Shepherds on it," Chrom said

"No," Emmeryn spoke up, having been fine with leaving the strategizing to those more familiar with the art of battle, "I need you to go to Regna Ferox, Chrom,"

Chrom was about to protest, but Robin quickly spoke up, "She's right. Our best bet at winning this war is with the help of Ferox,"

"Sister, please," Chrom pleaded, "Come with us or at least head to the Eastern Palace, you'll be safer,"

"That's not an option Chrom," Robin reminded him, "We can't afford to spare any soldiers escorting her to Ferox, and everyone will be in more danger if she goes with you,"

"But she'll be safer with us," Chrom countered stubbornly, "

 _It would be so much easier if I could tell him_ , "They would expect us to move her and keep spies stationed around the city," Robin explained, her patience was beginning to run thin, "If they see her leaving, then they'll send more of their forces against us, and we won't have the walls of the city to protect us from an all out assault. I'm a good tactician Chrom, but not even I can come up with a way to prevent that from being a slaughter,"

Chrom fell silent. Robin could see the conflict clear on the prince's face as he struggled between Robin's logic and his own desire to protect his sister. She hoped he would see reason, but she had no way of knowing. This was no longer her future.

And she had every intention of keeping it that way.

"You're right," Chrom conceded resignedly, "I don't like it, but you're right Robin, and I trust you," The tactician allowed herself a sigh of relief when she heard this. Everything seemed to be going alright.

"Thank you, Chrom,"

Early the next morning, all the Shepherds were saddled and ready to head out. All that is, except for their leader and tactician. When Chrom had seen Robin without a horse and unprepared, he had been confused and more than a little irritated, until the tactician explained that she would be staying to help prepare the city for a siege. Emmeryn had, of course, objected to the very though, insisting that Chrom had more of a need of a tactician than Ylisstol.

The prince wouldn't hear of it though and agreed that it would be best for Robin to stay here, trying to convince his sister that they were unlikely to face more than they could handle without their tactician. Eventually, Chrom and Robin were able to convince Emmeryn that this was the best course of action and the Shepherds left.

The sight of them leaving without her filled Robin with mixed emotions. On one hand, it hurt a lot. In her timeline, she had gone everywhere Chrom went and had formulated nearly every winning strategy they had utilized. In this timeline, she had distanced herself from all of them. She had injured herself and couldn't fight many of the battles where she had forged her initial friendships with her comrades. They still listened to her, but they didn't trust her quite as much as if she had fought by their side in the heat of battle. So it hurt to watch their backs as they walked away.

She shook herself out of her self pity. She needed to stop focusing on the differences. For all she knew this was all she could have for the rest of her life. There was no guarantee that she could return to the version of events that she knew, and even so there was still much destruction and sorrow to prevent in this one. Until the day came when she could devote the time to finding a way home, she had to focus here and now.

And right now that meant focusing on the upcoming battle.

Cordelia should be arriving today with news of Plegia's forces marching over the border and trampling over the other pegasus knights, so she didn't have much time. Plans were made, the walls reinforced. She doubled the guard on the gates with orders to inform her if they saw anything unusual. She unfortunately couldn't do much else at the moment, as there was no way they could know when someone was coming.

Emmeryn was doing wonders just by being within the city. She was able to calm the people as they began to panic, and kept the peace simply by being there. The people felt some assurance to know their leader was still among them and had faith in the strength of the city. It helped morale over all, and reinforced Robin's feeling that she had made the correct decision.

The short time they had flew by quickly and Cordelia had soon arrived and warned them of the fast approaching Plegian army. What last few preparations they had time for were quickly completed, and the citizens were told to remain inside their homes in preparation for the oncoming battle. The guard was focused at the western gate from which a dark line could be seen along the horizon. They had an hour maybe two before the bulk of the army arrived at their front gates.

Cordelia would be fighting alongside the ground troops without the aid of her pegasus, which she had decided to allow to rest. She had refused multiple suggestions from Robin and Emmeryn that she should rest as well, it took an order from Phila to get her to rest even the few hours they had before Plegia's forces would arrive. It wasn't the redhead's specialty, but it was better than nothing, and hopefully it wouldn't prove to be a mistake.

Robin was mostly going to be involved in strategy, but would likely end up in the fray herself depending on when Chrom returned. She would also be helping to guard Emmeryn. It wasn't likely that the Plegians were going to give up on assassination attempts just because they were now at war. Though, knowing what the Mad King was like, she was inclined to believe that he wouldn't be attempting any assassinations. He probably wasn't involved in the original assassination attempt in the first place, as Gangrel was more of a sadist than anything else. A death he didn't get to witness personally just wasn't his style. Despite this, she wasn't about to take any chances. Validar, she knew, still lived and he wasn't above trickery to get what he wanted.

"Robin," the captain of the guard snapped her back to reality. She nodded at him to indicate she was listening, "The Plegians are nearly upon us now,"

"Thank you," She replied, and looked at the light pouring through the western window, "They aren't likely to attack until morning, but it's better to be safe than dead," she muttered to herself before directing a question to the captain, "are the men in position?" The captain answered in the affirmative and left the room, Robin soon to follow. This was a defining moment. She had never had to defend this large an area before. Most of the time, she had been formulating attack patterns and siege plans on the opposite side of that wall.

She only hoped she hadn't bitten off more than she could chew.

* * *

 **Please leave a review on your way out, and thank you for all of you who have reviewed, favorited, and followed this story already.**

 **-AlyRe**


	4. The Seige

**Well, I'm not dead. Sorry it took so long, a lot of not-great stuff happened over the last few months, so I haven't been writing as much. But I completely redid the outline, and am much happier with where this story is going now. This chapter had to be cut in half, so, hopefully, the next chapter will come in less time that it took for this one. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

It was just before dawn when the warning bells rang out, rousing Robin from her uneasy slumber. She had fallen asleep at the wooden desk in her chambers, having stayed up late into the night going over a map of the city and making sure there was nothing she had missed that would either help them or hurt them. Both fortunately and unfortunately, there had been nothing.

She threw on her cloak and took off out of the room heading for the walls to find a vantage point from which she could observe the battle. Soldiers in full armor brushed passed her in the hallway, paying her no mind on their way to their various destinations. Robin weaved and dodged, doing her best to avoid getting hit by couriers rushing from various parts of the castles with messages, and servants preparing for the siege while taking care of their ordinary duties. Once she had battled her way through the castle halls, she finally took a look at the hellscape that lay before her.

Though it had begun only minutes before, the fields beneath the castle were already red with blood. At first she had just thought it because of the light from the rising sun, but the glistening sheen was unmistakable. The sky was dark with smoke from the blazes caused by errant spells and the cries of men drifted over to where she stood. It was a sight she had seen a number of times, but not from this side of the battle. In a way it wasn't as bad from here, away from the coppery smell of blood and the pungent stench of burning bodies.

Then she looked at the field as a tactician. The soldiers stretched across the field, numbering at least 10,000 if not more, as opposed to Ylisstol's 1200. The mages seemed to be interspersed amongst the ordinary troops, so she couldn't tell how many there were. However, she could see the remnants of dark magic which told her that there were at least a few dark mages and sorcerers in their ranks. She couldn't see any siege engines, which was good. It meant that they wouldn't have to worry about rocks or rotting carcasses being launched over their walls.

"Lady Robin," She was snapped away from the sight by a courier she didn't recognize, "The Exalt requests your presence," He informed Robin, "She is waiting in the council chamber,"

The tactician said a quick thank you to the young man as he ran off back the way he had come. She took one last glance at the battlefield, committing the sight to memory before heading off in the same direction. She was worried, so incredibly worried for what lay ahead. Not just for her and Ylisstol, but for Chrom and the other Shepherds. She knew Chrom was a capable leader, but at this point in time, he could be rash and was very headstrong, traits which he never fully grew out of. It just made her wonder what could happen without her there to reign it in a bit.

She shook her head. The tactician had no time for this. She couldn't focus on things that were out of her control, not when she had a city full of people and an Exalt to protect. They ran into little trouble in her timeline, and she was fairly certain they wouldn't this time.

By the time she reached Emmeryn, Robin had pulled herself out of her doubts and was completely focused on the task at hand: getting them through this siege. It would require completely different tactics than what she was used to, but having been on the opposite side a number of times, she had some knowledge to work off of.

"Thank you for coming, Robin," Emmeryn's serene voice greeted her, belying the worry that showed on her face.

"I apologize for the delay, milady," She responded as she took her spot at one end of the large war map, "I was surveying the battle,"

Emmeryn gave her nod, telling Robin to continue.

"We are vastly outnumbered. They have at least 10,000 soldiers maybe more," She started, "They have mages and sorcerers scattered among their soldiers, so I'm not sure what sort of ratio we have between the two. Most of their forces are grouped around the eastern and southern exits. Thankfully, they do not appear to have any siege engines, but they do have ladders, so we need to be prepared for our enemy to begin scaling the walls,"

"We need to be prepared for the possibility of losing the lower town as well," That was met with some protests from the nobles gathered, but Emmeryn silenced it with her hand. Robin nodded her thanks, "I will do everything in my power to keep them from breaching the outer wall, but with how outnumbered our forces are, we need to be prepared for the worst,"

She focused on Emmeryn, "I would keep the Fire Emblem with you at all times, milady. We don't know if there is another traitor in our midst, and the last thing we need is for Plegia to get its hands on it,"

The council dismissed after that, each person heading to a different area to perform what duties they had.

"Where do you want me, Robin?" The tactician turned and saw Cordelia standing in the doorway.

"Cordelia! You should be resting,"

She shook her head, "I have rested enough. I may not have my Pegasus at the moment but I can still help fight,"

"Take command of the western half of the southern wall," Robin told her, recognizing that arguing would do no good, "You won't have as much action as some of the other areas, but I'll also need you to watch for any soldiers who try to wrap around to the western gate,"

"Consider it taken care of," the pegasus knight said, and began to walk out. She paused for a moment in the doorway, "Thank you,"

She left immediately after that with Robin following shortly after.

* * *

Robin ran along the walls, dodging spells and weaving through soldiers in an attempt not to get hit by any stray blows. It was becoming rather difficult to avoid joining the fray, and she was sure that by the end of the day she would be involved in the fight directly. However, it seemed she was destined to join it much sooner than that.

A cry of pain caused her to turn around where she saw a soldier holding his face which had been badly burned by an enemy's spell. She ran over there,

"You. Get him to the infirmary," She ordered another soldier, "I'll cover your post until you return,"

He looked at her skeptically, but took his injured comrade towards the castle.

The tactician looked coldly at the soldiers who were scaling the ladder, and pulled out a tome she had taken from the armory earlier. Its delicate pages slightly yellowed from age, but still perfectly functional

She began chanting quickly and precisely, making sure she repeated the incantation correctly. Circles of glowing runes appeared around her, as she did so, and storm butts began to gather out of nowhere. The tome in her hand began to crackle with electricity, while her hair, along with the soldiers' around her, stood on end, and those who were not currently engaged in combat paused at the electric feeling that filled the air around them. She threw the book above her where it floated as she aimed the spell.

"Mjolnir!" She cried and a large bolt of lightning crashed from the heavens straight down the wall, striking at the base of the ladder. The ladder, and the soldiers around it, was reduced to a smoldering pile of ash in an instant.

She snatched the tome out of the air, "Stay focused," She commanded the few soldiers who had stopped fighting to gawk at the might of the legendary spell, "The battle is far from over,"

She quickly scanned the rest of the wall, checking the state of their defenses. At the moment, they were holding up well. The few mages stationed along the wall were quickly destroying most of the siege ladders before the opposing force could scale the walls and countering the spells thrown by enemy mages with spells of their own.

It had been a week since the start of the siege, and it was already apparent that they would not be able to hold the lower town for more than another day or two at most. She turned heel and headed for the council room where she knew the Exalt would be. Robin needed to tell her that they needed to evacuate the people to the inner walls of the citadel immediately. Upon arriving at the chamber, she was informed that Emmeryn had gone down to the makeshift infirmary in the main hall

"Exalt!" Robin called upon seeing the ruler talking to one of the injured townsfolk. Emmeryn turned at the sound of Robin's voice, and her serene look changed to one more grim, though it was a barely perceptible change, "I need to speak with you. It's urgent,"

The Exalt nodded and followed Robin into one of the castle's many side passages, and away from prying eyes and ears.

"What is it Robin?" Emmeryn asked her calm demeanor fading somewhat, and a more worried expression appearing on her face.

"We need to evacuate the lower town immediately," She had no time to mince words, every minute was precious in this situation.

"The walls?"

Robin shook her head, "We're holding them, but only barely. Our forces may be able to keep them from breaching it for one maybe two days if we're lucky,"

The Exalt sighed, "I will give the orders to start the process immediately,"

"Thank you," Robin bowed, "I'm sorry,"

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Emmeryn's kind smile returned, "You have done so much for us already. I do not think we would have lasted this long without your help,"

Robin said nothing, only nodded her head. She wasn't sure how true that statement was as she had no clue how long Ylisstol had lasted against the onslaught last time.

Emmeryn left without another word, and Robin ran off back to the town to begin evacuating people. She was known throughout the townsfolk, not well, but they knew her to be the hastily appointed royal tactician, and would likely listen to her. As it was too dangerous to call the townsfolk into one area, she would be forced to go door to door. She knocked on the first door and a middle-aged man with graying hair answered it.

"What do you n-need, milady?" He asked his a gruff voice, his fear apparent only by the slight shake in his voice.

"We need you to evacuate to the inner wall," A small amount of relief crept across the man's features.

"Alright. I feared you were recruiting us village folks like the old king did. I shoulda know the Exalt wouldn't allow that. Thank you for warning us, Lady Robin,"

The man started to close the door, "Wait," The man stopped, looking at her curiously, "I apologize for asking this, but is there anyone in your household who can go around warning the others,"

The man nodded, and called back inside, "Theo!"

A young man quickly came running out, being somewhere around Donny's age and rather lanky. She quickly told him what she needed him to do, and he was off like an arrow, not wasting any time in telling his neighbors. She thanked the man before returning the walls where the battle was still fiercely raging.

Her attention was completely focused on the gate which was groaning under the near constant barrage of the battering ram. She had to find a way to slow them. Options raced through her mind, only to be rejected quickly. Fire magic would likely do more harm than good, and lightning magic was to imprecise to be used in this case. Wind magic was her only option, but with Elwind being the only wind tome in her possession, it wasn't likely to help at all. Boiling tar would effectively slow them down, but they had run out of it.

Ylisstol was ill prepared for a siege, and now they were suffering because of it. There had to be something…

An idea struck Robin, "You!" A squire running past stopped at her voice, "Get as much grease from the kitchens as you can and bring it to me,"

He gave her an odd look, but didn't question the orders, and ran off to fulfill them. Robin prayed to Naga that the gates would hold for a short while longer, and helped fend of the intruders trying to scale the walls. She only hoped that the squire would return shortly.

She got into the groove of fighting, a feeling which she had honestly missed. It wasn't that she liked fighting, she had always preferred peace to war, but there was something rather meditative and calm about the trance one seemed to enter in the middle of battle. It was the repetitive motion of the slashing of her sword that drew her into it, and it was the cries of men that drew her out of it. She felled another enemy soldier and looked towards the source of the cries. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw soldiers pouring through the once closed gate.

The Plegians had broken through.

* * *

 **Please leave a review on your way out, and thank you to those who have followed, favorited, and reviewed this story already. A special thanks to November7th who's review has helped me with the writing of this story  
**

 **-AlyRe**


	5. The Retreat

**This story will be going on hiatus for 18 months while I serve a mission for my church in France. Not that y'all will be likely to notice with my crappy updating habits. Sorry it took so long for this chapter. I was suffering from writer's block –I'm still suffering from writer's block but decided to say screw it and give you guys one last chapter before I go silent for a year and a half.  
**

* * *

Robin leapt from the wall, using Elwind to break her fall, and rushed towards one of the unit commanders.

"Have your troops fall back, but slow down the enemy as much as possible, we need to buy time for the citizens to get to the inner wall," She ordered

The commander nodded and immediately relayed her orders to his unit, as Robin turned and headed through the alleyways in an attempt to head off any Plegians that had broken through the defense line in the chaos. She knew they couldn't hold out for very long before it became dangerous to keep the gates open any longer, all she could do was prevent that time for arriving for as long as she could.

She emerged from the alley in front of a large group of Plegians charging through the streets. Quickly pulling out one of her tomes, she cast Bolganone on the ground beneath their feet. The cobblestone square melted into hot magma and swallowed up the screams of the burning Plegians. The spell missed a few of them but she was able to rectify that before they could reach her.

Looking out from her slightly elevated position on the hill, she surveyed the battlefield. It was absolute chaos. Troops from all over the city were retreating while continuing to engage the Plegian forces while some were in an all-out retreat, unable to hold against the massive army they were up against. Citizens were rushing towards the inner wall desperately trying to keep their loved ones with them some making it and others being cut down before they could. The crying and screaming that echoed through the walls would not soon leave her.

The front line soon reached her in their retreat, having broken contact with the front line of the enemy. She cast another Bolganone to slow down the enemy before following the rest to the inner walls.

"Close the gates!" She yelled as she passed under the portcullis. The gatekeepers wasted no time as they cut the rope and sent the gate crashing down, impaling soldiers both allied and enemy alike. Robin turned away from the cries of the citizens and soldiers that didn't make it back inside. She wasn't naïve, she knew she couldn't save everyone, but that didn't make the sacrifices any easier. But she couldn't focus on that now. She had a castle and an Exalt in need of defending.

The war room was immediately where she headed, knowing that that is where she'd find Emmeryn.

"Lady Robin," She turned and saw the squire from earlier running towards her, jars of discarded kitchen grease in his hands, "What do you want done with this?"

"Deliver it to the commander on the wall right now. He will know what to do with it," She ordered, and returned to her current task.

Robin strode in without announcing her presence. She did not miss the disapproving (and slightly fearful) glares she received from multiple members of the council. Now was not the time for formalities.

"Lady Robin," Said one of the more elderly members of the council, "What are you doing barging in-"

"The outer walls have been breached which I'm sure you're all aware of," She said, ignoring the council member, an action which she was sure would become habit before the end of this.

"Yes we are," Another of the council members responded, "Given how greatly your skill was praised by Prince Chrom, I would have expected you to hold out much longer. Perhaps your skill was exaggerated,"

"I may be skilled, but not even I can perform the impossible," Robin countered, "Ylissetol was ill-prepared for a siege of this caliber. We should consider ourselves fortunate they didn't bring any wyverns with them as we'd be hard pressed to counter them with our relatively few archers and severe lack of Pegasus knights,"

Robin knew that he meant to provoke her. It was no secret that they were not fond of a stranger with amnesia found wearing Plegian robes being appointed as the chief strategist. She knew her words would provoke them, and she knew it wasn't wise. However, being as stressed and tired as she was, she couldn't bring herself to care. Never, in the three wars she had participated in, had her skill ever been questioned, and especially not for something as mundane as the strategies she was using now.

"Enough," The Exalt commanded firmly before any could retort. Emmeryn sighed, "We don't have the time for this. How are the people?"

"Many, I'm sure are grieving for family and friends who didn't make it in time. We kept the gates open for as long as we could, but we weren't able to hold out long enough for them all to make it,"

"I will go visit them, walk among them,"

"Your Excellence, I would advise against it," A council member said, and for once they and Robin were on the same page.

"I would also recommend against it," Robin advised, "We're in a delicate and dangerous position right now. The Plegians might try to push their advantage by attempting another assassination,"

Emmeryn shook her head, the stubbornness that would occasionally rear its head becoming present, "I understand the risks, but the people need to know that their ruler hasn't abandoned them,"

Robin knew there was no arguing with Emmeryn once she made up her mind, "If you insist," Robin almost insisted on accompanying her, but thought better of it knowing that there were many things that needed her attention, such as making sure Cordelia made it safely into the citadel, "May I take my leave,"

"Of course,"

Robin bowed and left the room.

* * *

 **Please leave a review, and thank you for continuing to be patient with me.**

 **-AlyRe**


End file.
